Axially directed dispenser of a semisolid or pasty product

ABSTRACT

Dispenser ( 1 ) intended for the packaging of a pasty product ( 6 ), comprising a basically tubular body ( 2 ) possessing a side wall ( 3 ) ending in an upstream opening ( 4 ) and a downstream opening ( 5 ) for receiving a removable cover member ( 8 ), a means for the axial propulsion of said product comprising an axial screw ( 14 ) working in conjunction with a piston ( 24 ) supporting said product, and a wheel ( 15 ) mounted axially and leak-tightly in the upstream opening, and said axial screw and said wheel being made in one piece; which dispenser is characterized in that the wheel comprises a first wall ( 16 ) and a concentric second wall ( 17 ), both connected to a base wall ( 18 ), said first wall being geometrically approximately a continuation of the side wall, and the second wall being of a smaller diameter.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an axially directed dispenser intended for packaging a semi-solid or pasty product, which product does not flow at ambient temperature, typically a cosmetic product such as a deodorant, also known by the name of “stick”.

BRIEF DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART

Known dispensers of this type generally comprise a tubular body containing a means of axially propelling the solid or semi-solid stick-form cosmetic product. The body has two openings, upstream and downstream, a cover member being provided to close off the upstream opening. The propulsion means comprises two assemblies able to move relative to one another, the first assembly consisting of a piston tailored to the shape of the body and provided with a nut-forming central part, said piston being capable of axial but not of rotational movement and intended to support the cosmetic product, and the other assembly comprising a base axially fastened to the body but free to rotate, this fastening generally being by clipping together or snap fastening, a threaded axial screw secured to the base bearing and collaborating with said nut-forming part of the piston and a wheel for turning the axial screw, which may possibly form all or part of a bottom, allowing the user to move the cosmetic product axially toward the downstream opening of the body as the product gradually becomes used up.

In the known way, the piston and the base generally have openings to allow the dispenser to be filled via its upstream opening, the wheel then serving to close off the upstream opening of the base.

Traditionally, the dispenser is formed by assembling, particularly by clipping or snap fastening, the means of axial propulsion into the body, the other elements of the dispenser also generally being assembled in this way, reversibly as far as the cover member is concerned and irreversibly as far as the wheel that turns the axial screw is concerned.

Furthermore, there may be an insert between the cover member and the body so as to shape the product if the latter is filled via the upstream opening, and/or to provide sealing between these two items.

However, although these dispensers perform relatively well from a technical point of view, they do call upon too high a number of separate parts, there being at least five of these, namely the tubular body, the cover member, the base integral with the threaded axial screw, the piston and the wheel.

There has been proposed, in French Patent FR 2 861 373, for a dispenser to be produced that has no more than four separate parts to be assembled. To do that, the base, the threaded screw and the wheel are produced in the form of a one-piece entity. This reduction in the number of parts then leads to a very significant reduction in the cost of manufacture and of assembly but, given the special design of this dispenser, the wheel no longer has any bottom, and this is detrimental in esthetic terms. The problem is that a conventional dispenser usually has a substantially flat bottom that elegantly closes off said dispenser and serves to support it when it is standing vertically.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention overcomes the various disadvantages by providing an axially directed dispenser intended for packaging a semi-solid or pasty product, typically a cosmetic product such as a deodorant, comprising a substantially tubular body having a side wall ending, on the one hand, in an upstream opening and, on the other hand, in a downstream opening capable of accepting a removable cover member, a means of axially propelling said product comprising a threaded axial screw collaborating with a piston that serves to support said product, and a wheel fixed axially in a sealed manner into the upstream opening of the body, said axial screw and said wheel being produced as a single piece, characterized in that the wheel comprises a first wall and a second wall that are concentric and secured to an end wall, said first wall being positioned substantially in the continuation of the side wall of the body, and the second wall being of smaller diameter.

Thus a dispenser according to the invention comprises a one-piece axial screw/wheel assembly able, on the one hand, to reduce the total number of parts and, on the other hand, to give the dispenser the standard external appearance.

According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the upstream opening of the body and the wheel are equipped with complementary fastening means allowing them to clip together.

Advantageously, the body is extended axially, at its upstream opening by an interior skirt capable of clipping onto the second wall of the wheel.

Advantageously too, the interior skirt of the body is substantially conical and has at least one internal shoulder, and the second wall of the wheel has at least one boss, formed on the external face, capable of retaining said internal shoulder. As a preference, the second wall of the wheel has three bosses evenly distributed about the circumference. As an alternative, it should be noted that the boss may be circular over at least part of the periphery of the external face of the second wall.

As a preference, the second wall has, on the opposite side to the end wall, a free end in the form of a lip that is curved outward to provide sealing between the body and the wheel. This configuration is therefore more logical than the configuration covered by patent application FR-2 861 373 whereby sealing between the body and the wheel was afforded upstream of the clip-fastening of said wheel to the body.

Again as a preference, the body is equipped with a plurality of internal axial ribs. The piston may then be produced in the form of a substantially diskoid plate the diameter of which is less than that of the body because translational guidance of the product along the body is obtained solely by said axial ribs about which the product has solidified. One important advantage then lies in the fact that this saving on material makes it possible to reduce both the mass of the dispenser and the cost of manufacturing it.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood with the aid of the detailed description set out hereinbelow with reference to the attached drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in longitudinal section of a dispenser according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in longitudinal section of the one-piece axial screw/wheel assembly used in the dispenser depicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view in longitudinal section of the wheel of the assembly depicted in FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4 to 6 are sectional views of the dispenser depicted in FIG. 1 during the filling and assembly operations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An axially directed dispenser 1 according to the invention, as depicted more especially in FIG. 1, is made from a substantially tubular plastic body 2 that has a side wall 3 ending in an upstream opening 4 and a downstream opening 5. This dispenser 1 is intended for packaging a semi-solid or pasty product 6, for example a cosmetic product such as a deodorant.

The side wall 3 has a smaller thickness at the downstream opening 5 and is provided with an external screw thread 7 for the screw-fastening of a removable cover member that acts as a cap 8. In the conventional way, an insert 9 is positioned between the downstream opening 5 and the cap 8.

At the upstream opening 4 the side wall 3 subdivides into a short arm 10 extending said side wall 3, and into an interior skirt 11 that is substantially conical in the upstream direction and has a circular internal shoulder 12 near its upstream end 13.

A one-piece plastic assembly consisting of a threaded axial screw 14 and a wheel 15 is fitted into the upstream opening 4 of the body 2.

More specifically, the wheel 15 comprises a first wall 16 and a second wall 17 which are concentric and secured to an end wall 18, said first wall 16 being substantially positioned in the continuation of the side wall 3 of the body 2, and the second wall 17 being of a smaller diameter. The axial screw 14 is positioned at the center of the end wall 18 and extends downstream therefrom in a direction parallel to the axis of the dispenser 1.

The second wall 17 is provided with three bosses 19 on its external face evenly distributed about the entire circumference. These bosses are able to collaborate with the internal shoulder 12 of the interior skirt 11 so as to allow clip fastening.

Furthermore, the second wall 17 has, on the opposite side to the end wall 18, a free end in the form of a lip 20 curved outward to come into contact with the internal face of the interior skirt 11 so as to provide sealing between the body 2 and the wheel 15 downstream of the clip fastening.

In the upstream-to-downstream direction, the axial screw 14 can be broken down into, firstly, a base-forming section 21 and, secondly, a threaded section 22 around which a nut-forming piston 24 is positioned. More specifically, this piston 24 is produced in the form of a substantially diskoid plate of a diameter smaller than that of the body 2.

Finally, the internal face of the side wall 3 is equipped with a plurality of axial ribs 25.

As depicted in FIGS. 4 to 6, the operations of filling and assembling the dispenser 1 are advantageously performed as follows.

First of all, the insert 9 and the cap 8 are attached in succession to the body 2 then the body is inverted and stood on said cap 8. As indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4, a product 6 that has been heated such that it becomes semi-liquid, is then introduced into the body 2 via its upstream opening 4.

The axial screw 14/wheel 15 one-piece assembly is then introduced into the body 2 via its upstream opening 4, as shown in FIG. 5. Prior to this insertion, the piston 24 will have been screwed onto the threaded section 22 of the axial screw 14 until it butts against the base-forming section 21. The threaded section 22 and the piston 24 can then penetrate the product 6 which will not yet have solidified.

The insertion of the axial screw/wheel 15 assembly forces the internal shoulder 12 of the interior skirt 11 to move elastically outward at the three bosses 19 exhibited by the second wall 17. Once these bosses 19 have been overcome, the internal shoulder 12 regains its state of rest, ultimately leading to a clip-fastened attachment between the body 2 and the wheel 15.

Once assembly has been achieved, as depicted in FIG. 6, the free end of the first wall 16 and the upstream end 13 of the interior skirt 11 lie respectively in abutment against the arm 10 of the body 2 and the end wall 18 of the wheel 15.

Once the product 6 has cooled and become semi-solid it can then be made to effect an axial translational movement simply by turning the wheel 15 after having removed the cap 8 and the insert 9. What happens is that the axial ribs 25 created in the internal face of the side wall 3 act as axial guides preventing the product 6, and the piston 24 which has become integral with said product 6, from being made to turn.

Furthermore, in the conventional way, it should be noted that the insert 9 allows the product 6 to be given an appropriate shape.

Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments, it is quite obvious that it is not in any way restricted thereto and that it comprises all technical equivalents of the means described together with combinations thereof where these fall within the scope of the invention. 

1. An axially directed dispenser intended for packaging a semi-solid or pasty product, typically a cosmetic product such as a deodorant, comprising: a substantially tubular body having a side wall ending, on the one hand, in an upstream opening and, on the other hand, in a downstream opening capable of accepting a removable cover member, a means of axially propelling said product comprising a threaded axial screw collaborating with a piston that serves to support said product, and a wheel fixed axially in a sealed manner into the upstream opening of the body, said axial screw and said wheel being produced as a single piece, wherein the wheel comprises a first wall and a second wall that are concentric and secured to an end wall supporting said screw, said first wall being positioned substantially in the continuation of the side wall of the body, and the second wall being of smaller diameter.
 2. The dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upstream opening of the body and the wheel are equipped with complementary fastening means allowing them to clip together.
 3. The dispenser as claimed in claim 2, wherein the body is extended axially, at its upstream opening by an interior skirt capable of clipping onto the second wall of the wheel.
 4. The dispenser as claimed in claim 3, wherein the interior skirt of the body is substantially conical and has at least one internal shoulder, and the second wall of the wheel has at least one boss, formed on the external face, capable of retaining said internal shoulder.
 5. The dispenser as claimed in claim 4, wherein the second wall of the wheel has three bosses evenly distributed about the circumference.
 6. The dispenser as claimed in claim 4, wherein the boss is circular.
 7. The dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second wall has, on the opposite side to the end wall, a free end in the form of a lip that is curved outward to provide sealing between the body and the wheel.
 8. The dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body is equipped with a plurality of internal axial ribs.
 9. The dispenser as claimed in claim 8, wherein the piston is produced in the form of a substantially diskoid plate the diameter of which is less than that of the body. 